ANTI-POACHING OPERATIONS TO CURB POACHING

ANTI-POACHING OPERATIONS TO CURB POACHING

By BRIAN KAJENGO 

South African National Parks (SANParks) is a proud recipient of a brand new Airbus AS-350B3e helicopter with night flying capability made available with funding from the US based Howard G Buffet Foundation (HGBF).

The Air machine would help the rangers to check and chase poachers on the air which add air strength to fight rhino poachers.

SANParks Board Chairperson, Mr. Kuseni Dlamini, stated that SANParks had received an initial grant funding of R254. 8 million in 2014 to support anti-poaching operations in the Kruger National Park.

Kuseni Dlamini said, “This incorporated the establishment of ‘Air Mobility’ capacity’ and included the purchase of the first helicopter in September 2014.”

The Howard G Buffet Foundation granted SANParks an additional R37.7 million to purchase a second Airbus AS350 B3e helicopter, with similar specifications of night flying capability, to further increase the capacity of SANParks’ rhino anti-poaching flight operations in the KNP.

 “In addition to increasing our current flight crew capability of flying at night, the helicopter is expected to improve our response time in dealing with contacts and other incidents in the Park. We have just taken delivery of this second helicopter and we are commissioning it today (19 March 2015) to go into action in the fight against rhino poaching.

“In accordance with the much needed aerial support to the anti-poaching teams around the clock, this helicopter will further assist in quick tactical response particularly at night where we have been lacking due to limited resources; therefore it is only proper to thank HGBF for bringing this much needed resource in our fight to curb poaching.” Kuseni Dlamini said.

He said as an integral part of the current strategy to combat rhino poaching in the Kruger National Park, SANParks is in a process of applying and evaluating various technologies which include Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV’s).

Kuseni Dlamini said, “This aims at investigating the effectiveness of various UAV technologies as instruments in rhino protection efforts under a range of operational conditions.”

According to Mr. Dlamini, the UAV project will run for a full year… “and by the end of the project we will have a lot of information about the use of available technology in anti-poaching operations and be able to make informed decision on what is best for our environment.”

The testing of UAV technology in Kruger National Park is implemented as one component of a suite of anti-poaching initiatives supported by the Rhino Protection Programme (RPP).

The RPP is a collaborative effort between the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), South African National Parks (SANParks), Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife (Ezemvelo), and Peace Parks Foundation (PPF).

“The roll-out of this multi-faceted programme is made possible thanks to generous funding from the Dutch and Swedish postcode lotteries,” said Dlamini.